Alex and Astra: Forever
by SoaringEagle11
Summary: Everything would have been so much worse if they hadn't been there for each other.
1. Chapter 1- Return

It hurt.

Astra couldn't breathe as she remembered what had just happened a few weeks ago. Again, under Non's control after so long had gone by. Fighting her own niece. And the other fight... it was horrible to think of it now.

Now she was under house arrest in Kara's and Alex's apartment.

"Astra?"

The alien looked up as Alex Danvers stepped into the apartment. "Oh, hey."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You've been... crying."

"What? No, I haven't." Astra turned away, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Yes, you have. Now..." Alex sat on the couch and pulled Astra toward her, letting her lay her head on her shoulder. "What happened? It's not feeling guilty about fighting Kara, is it?"

"No, it's not. It's... nothing you need to know about."

"Astra..." Alex gestured to the Kryptonite sword still strapped across her back as she took it off and set it in the table next to the couch. "Don't make me poke you with this."

"Okay, okay!" Astra shuddered at remembering how General Lane had once stabbed her with the needle full of Kryptonite. "I'll tell you. It's... about Non."

"What about him?"

"After my battle with Kara, when I disappeared for a bit, Non took me back to our base, shouting that I had surrendered and deserved to be disgraced for what I had done, giving up after so long. He... he hurt me, Alex. And... when he was almost done basically torturing me... he..."

"He what? What did Non do?"

"He... forced himself on me. Didn't do anything to help me prepare, to lessen any pain... Alex, it hurt..." Astra's sobs filled the room and she buried her face in Alex's chest.

"Shh, it's okay now." Alex gently lifted Astra's chin so that their eyes met. "Non should be gone. And even if it turns out that he's not... I won't let him touch you."

"How can you...?"

Alex silenced her with a kiss. And not just a little peck on the forehead either. A full kiss. A passionate one. She wrapped her arms around Astra's waist, tugging her so that they were both stretched along the couch. When Alex finally pulled away, Astra was staring at her in shock.

"You... why?"

"Astra... I love you. And I want to help you."

"I..." Astra sniffed. "I love you too... but what will Kara think of us? I mean... I'm her aunt."

"And she's dating Lena Luthor, so I think we're all right."

A crashing sound from the window startled Astra and she fell to the floor. Kara looked up to see the window shattered and Astra barely had time to move before she had Alex's Kryptonite blade point pressed against her chest, with Non being the holder of it.

"Non!" Alex yanked out her gun.

"So you're sitting with someone who once tried to destroy her niece, who happens to be your adoptive sister?" Non laughed. "A shame she won't be around anymore."

Alex rushed forward, but Non slammed Astra into the ground again and slashed the Kryptonite sword through her a few times.

The scream that ripped from her was similar to the one from Silver Banshee, who she'd heard about from her sister, but this one wasn't an attacking sound. No, it was more pain than could ever be comprehended. More than she could ever bear.

"ASTRA!" Alex wailed, launching herself at Non. The sword was supposed to leave no marks, but the Kryptonite in her system would weaken her and weaken her until her systems stopped.

_I can't let you die._

Non had dropped the sword, knowing it could weaken him too and backed away, grinning.

_He's deranged. He wouldn't kill his own ex-wife._

But before she could stop him, he was out the window again. She carefully put the sword back in its sheath once he'd left, then looked back.

"No... Astra..." Alex knelt down and moved Astra into her arms, pressing her lips against hers. In Non's place came Kara as Supergirl, with Lena Luthor hanging in her grasp, and Alex quickly pulled away. Kara set Lena down away from the broken glass and raced over to Alex.

"What happened?" she breathed.

"Non," Alex whispered back.

Astra felt the warm hands lift her body into the air and she immediately blacked out.

_I can't... I can't do it anymore._

More tears slipped from Astra's eyes as she sat in Kara's apartment again. Alex was in her own room and Kara and Lena were out on a date. She could still feel immense pain from Kryptonite inside her, even though Maxwell Lord and Kara has helped get most of it out. Even so... she still feared it would kill her.

_I will let it though. I have no one left to live for... even Alex. She might love me, but she's better off without me. _

The Kryptonite had temporarily robbed her of her powers, except for flying... and she was okay with that, ready to leave.

But then chaos erupted.

Alex burst out of her room, wild-eyed, gasping, "Astra, we need to go! Kara needs us!"

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, but she mentioned Non and Lena and... let's just go!"

"Tell me where and I'll carry you."

"Fine."

Astra hooked her arms around Alex's waist and rose into the air. Alex started to guide her by voice directions, over to the skyscraper which Kara was waiting by, hovering in the air. Police cars, an ambulance, and a firetruck were waiting at the bottom of it and the space between them was bustling with activity.

"What happened?" Astra questioned.

"Lena..." Kara buried her face in her hands. "Non was there... he held Lena over the edge... I couldn't save her in time... she fell..."

"I'm so sorry..." Astra shifted Alex to one arm and hugged Kara with the other.

"It was so far... she may not survive this..."

"And neither will you!" Suddenly, Non's voice echoed through the air and then he crashed into Astra, Kara, and Alex, splitting them apart. Alex fell and Kara dashed down to catch her. Non grabbed Astra by the throat, stabbing a new Kryptonite sword into her chest. Astra groaned, her flying powers weakening, and she spiraled away from him. She was already close to the ground by the time Kara caught Alex and Astra winced as she felt enough pain that she couldn't even scream from when she crashed. Only gasps escaped her as Kara zoomed down to her. She put Alex down, who ran to Astra with tears streaming from her eyes.

"Astra... you barely survived the last time... don't leave me..."

"I... can't..."

Alex leaned down and kissed Astra's forehead, right before pulling her into her arms and kissing her again, this time on the lips. Kara watched with a helpless look on her face. After Astra finally fell unconscious, Alex quickly called Hank, who arrived fast.

"What is happening, Agent Danvers?" he inquired through narrowed red eyes.

Alex tried to speak, but only sobs came out. She eventually regained her voice and said, "Non... he had Kryptonite... his own protection too... he hurt her..."

"Alex, we need to return her to the DEO..."

"To be taken and experimented on?" Alex retorted, grateful that no one was taking an interest in Astra but them. Everyone was occupied with the shocking news of Lena's fall. "Don't forget General Lane still comes around a lot. If he finds her, he could send her to Project Cadmus!"

"We'll defend her as much as we can," Hank assured. "But she needs the tech we have back there to recover."

"I won't let her be sent to Cadmus!" Alex roared. "I won't!" She kissed Astra's forehead again to calm herself down.

As the two of them began to make the escape to somewhere they wouldn't be found, with Hank calling for transport to the DEO, neither of them noticed Kara go in the other direction, flying over the ambulance holding Lena as it started to move, a heartbroken look on her face.

**Back at the DEO:**

Alex watched sadly as the DEO doctors took Astra to a secluded room, eyes wet with tears. Kara returned soon after to find her standing there, crying.

"You love her, don't you?"

Kara's voice took her by surprise.

"Yes..." Alex sniffed. "I've loved her for a while... it was only before when Non attacked her in your apartment that she ever revealed she loved me too."

"I'm sorry about Non though."

"Kara, it's worse than I thought. Before, when Non came to the apartment... right before that, Astra had told me what Non had done to her... how he'd basically tortured her and then forced himself on her without any consent or gentleness."

"Oh my god..."

"Now do you see why it's bad?"

"Oh, it's more than bad." Kara adopted an enraged expression. "On Krypton, the punishment for that is a slow death being tortured in Fort Rozz."

Alex gulped and Kara was speechless for a moment.

"He will pay," she said after a bit, clenching her cape in one fist. "He cannot torture my aunt like he did and get away with it."

**Three days later, in the dead of night...**

"Kara?"

The blond woman opened her eyes slightly, mumbling, "What?"

"We have to get down to the DEO. Someone's broken in."

"Huh? Are they still there?"

"We think so. But Kara... it could be Non."

Kara literally jumped out of bed and slipped into Supergirl mode. "Then let's get there fast." She picked up Alex and flew out the still-broken window so hurriedly that Alex nearly threw up when they arrived at the DEO. But she controlled herself and found Hank, yelling over the deafening sound of alarms.

"What's going on?"

"Someone's broken into Astra's room and locked the door. Our agents are about to get in."

Alex nodded and practically flew to the alien's room, pushing through the soldiers and slicing her reimbursed Kryptonite sword that she'd brought through the locked door. It had already been practically broken (but not able to be seen through) from the soldiers' attempts and the final slash vanquished the door handle and creaked the door open. She slipped her sword into its sheath and darted inside, going white at the sight.

The room had been destroyed.

A lot of the equipment had been demolished and Astra herself lay stripped and entirely motionless near the wall, her body ravaged by cuts and bruises. The Kryptonite has weakened her so much that she had been able to bleed more than ever. And when Alex saw the awkward position, the pained expression, the broken glass, the blood between her legs... she knew exactly what Non had done to her.

"There's one person we know who can do something about this," Kara murmured. "Who will know more than any of us about this."

"Oh no... but you said she can't know about Astra and I..."

"We have to." Kara took a deep breath. "We need to call my mother."

Alex let Kara do the deed while she held Astra's practically lifeless body in her arms, moving her out of range of the destruction. Hank helped her get to a safe room and she vowed that she wouldn't let Astra go so easily. She'd keep her breathing. The new room was dark, with no equipment (however, Hank said he would bring some to keep her alive). She lay on the floor, one arm around Astra's waist and the other on her chest, making sure her heartbeat was steady.

"My love..." she whispered, doing as much as she could to keep her warm as well. "I'm sorry..."

At last, the door opened and in walked Alura. She halted when she saw them together and the expression on her face was shocked, but calculating, as if she was trying to figure out why it was Alex with her instead of Kara.

"What happened?" she asked at last. "Kara called me and told me there was an emergency with my sister..."

"We're pretty sure Non broke in..." Alex sighed. "He got to Astra... she's weakened too much from it..."

Alura stepped forward slowly. "Is someone coming to help?"

"Hank is. He needs to."

The terrified look on Alex's face gave everything away and Alura's eyes widened.

"Non didn't... he couldn't have... that's the most punishable crime on Krypton..."

"He's out of his mind," Alex replied tearfully. "He wouldn't have hurt her otherwise..."

Alura sank to her knees, taking her sister's body from Alex, who grunted as she got up with her. Hank soon came into the room and switched on the light, blinding them for a split second before he brought the equipment and machine with the sun rays in it. Both Alex and Alura didn't make a sound as Alura placed Astra into the machine.

"She's not safe anymore," Alura moaned quietly. "Come on, we need to leave them to fix her. I can't watch this."

"I'm not leaving," Alex snapped stubbornly. "I won't leave her to die without me."

"She won't die without us. And you need to come with me."

"No!" Alex reached forward and held Astra's hand tightly. "I can't!"

Alura blinked in surprise. "No way... you and her..."

"Yes, me and her. Now back _off, _Alura!"

"You and I need to talk anyway. So come with me now!"

"No."

Rolling her eyes, Alura wrapped her arms around Alex, yanking her away from Astra. Alex cried into her hands as Alura dragged her out and dropped her on the floor.

"Astra, Alex? Are you kidding me?!" She crossed her arms as Alex looked up at her, a defiant look on her face. "My sister is maybe fifteen years older than you! What are you thinking?"

Alex didn't answer.

"Crushing on her and thinking she doesn't have a choice in the matter? There is no way she could love you back..."

"She does."

"What?" Alura staggered back as if Alex had pushed her. "That cannot be true. I know my sister. She wouldn't ever love someone who didn't match her in strength."

"Your sister is also gentler now. And we love each other."

"What have you done to her...?"

"I haven't done anything. We love each other, simple as that."

"Have you... please tell me you two haven't kissed yet..."

"Oh, believe me, we have. And we would have gone farther if Non hadn't shown up."

"She's older than you and she's my sister!" Alura narrowed her eyes.

"I don't care. So shut the hell up about it!"

"Okay, why are you cursing at my mother?" Kara swooped in and stood between them. "What happened?"

"Ask your adopted sister," Alura growled, "who seems to be doing something to your aunt. Ugh, they even... they almost made love to each other!"

"So what?" Kara's eyes flashed. "People can love whoever they wish. There is the age of consent that makes that a problem, but Alex and Astra are both above that age. There is no other problem."

"This would never be allowed on Krypton."

"But we aren't on Krypton. This is Earth. And Alex isn't even a Kryptonian. She doesn't have to follow those rules. And neither does Aunt Astra now."

Alura was glaring back at Kara. "I can't believe you're condoning this."

"Mom, think of your sister right now. She wouldn't want us fighting about this or having to fight with you when she wakes up. _If _she wakes up."

Alura's expression softened a tiny bit. "Kara..."

"Forget it. I'm going to visit Lena." She flew out of the DEO. Alex, worn out from her sobbing, leaned against the wall, swaying on her feet. Still glaring a little, Alura reached out to touch her shoulder and she pushed her away. "Get the fuck off of me!"

"Alex, surely you can see why I don't want you with my sister."

"All I can see is that you're trying to prevent us from loving who we love." Alex took a few breaths. "I'm going for a walk."

"Alex..."

"Shut up and get away from me!"

**Four days later...**

Kara's temper, unfortunately, did not improve, as she soon discovered that her beloved Lena Luthor was likely to die. Alura felt bad about what she had said to Alex, but she still stood strongly behind the idea that her sister and her should not be together, so Alex's mood did not improve toward her. They had all been staying at the DEO for a while.

But then Astra finally woke up.

Hank was the first to yell the news and Alex came running, Alura and Kara close on her heels. Alura shot Alex a slightly dark look as they entered the room, but didn't make a single comment. Astra was really awake, so Kara ordered Hank to open the machine and he did. Astra had been neatly dressed in a loose-fitting black jumpsuit.

"Astra..." Alex reached over and slowly brought her up to a sitting position. "God, I'm so glad you're still alive."

"Me too, sweetheart." Astra leaned forward to kiss Alex, then flicked her gaze toward Alura. "Oh no..."

"Don't even think about it," Kara growled at her mother. "Not when she's injured."

Alura inhaled a sharp breath. "Sister, how could he do that to you?"

"You mean..."

"Yes."

"I don't know..."

"We need to destroy him," Kara added. "We won't let Non hurt you anymore."

"Of course, there is still the matter of..."

"No!" Kara cut Alura off.

"Yes." Alura pulled Kara out of the way and stood over her sister, her face a mask of disapproval.


	2. Chapter 2- Hard Tension

Astra was afraid.

Alura knew she and Alex were together. And she clearly didn't approve.

"Are you out of your mind?" she snarled angrily. "With the adopted sister of your niece! What were you thinking?"

Astra's eyes watered. "Sister, I love her. Why does that matter? We're not related."

"Stop it," Alex hissed through gritted teeth. "Don't make her upset. That's extremely bad for her in this condition."

But Alura wasn't listening. "How could you betray the laws of Krypton again, Astra?"

"Stop, Alura."

"Are you just trying to spite me or do you really care about your old home?"

"STOP!" Astra screamed, bursting into tears at the same time Kara threw her hands forward to grab her mom. However, she accidentally pushed her with super strength and Alura slammed into the side of the machine-turned-bed Astra was laying in, sending her sister collapsing to the ground.

"Kara..." Alura whispered. "What did you just do...?" She picked herself up off the floor, glancing wide-eyed at her daughter.

Alex turned on her too for a moment, but her attention was distracted by Astra, who she dashed over to help. She didn't know if she'd gone unconscious or not, but her eyes were closed and her body hung limply in Alex's arms.

"Astra! Astra, baby, can you hear me?"

No sound came back to her.

"Astra, speak to me. Show me you're alive!"

The tension in the room was at a boiling point and Hank realized it wasn't good for Astra's healing process, so he sent them all out after replacing Astra on the machine, which would be replaced with a real bed before nightfall every day.

"You okay, Alura?" Alex muttered to her.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Why don't you approve of me? It cannot just be about our age difference."

"No, I just don't want Astra with... _you_."

"But that shouldn't matter!" Alex sighed in an exasperated tone. "She can love whoever she wants to."

Alura shook her head. "Not you. It's too weird. I don't want you with her."

Alex suddenly struck out with such force that she hit Alura's chest hard, sending her staggering back. "Shut up, you bitch."

"Alex!" Kara was shocked beyond belief. "What is wrong with you? You shouldn't be talking like that."

"Wouldn't you feel the same if she tried to keep you from being with Lena? Nothing will stop Astra and I from loving each other!"

**Later...**

Alex returned to Astra's room at night, trying to calm herself down before she went in. No one else was in there at that point, not even Hank. She turned on the light to a dim setting and carefully walked over to the bed, gently stroking her fingers through Astra's long brown hair and white streak.

"Baby, don't die on me now," she murmured. "I love you too much to let you go."

"Alex?" Astra opened her eyes and sat up, wincing in pain.

"Hey, don't strain yourself if you don't need to."

"No... I don't care..."

Without listening to anything else, Alex wrapped her right arm around Astra's waist and rested the hand of the other arm on the small of her back, pulling her in for a passionate kiss.

"Alex..."

"Shh, Astra... calm down..."

"But... hey, don't hurt me!"

She winced as she realized she had touched a bruise on her waist. "Sorry."

"It's okay..."

Alex kissed her again, her lips trailing down Astra's neck.

"Ah... Alex... you know we can't go as far as we want to... not when I'm like this..."

"I know..."

Alex sat on the bed and lifted Astra into her lap.

"I just don't like that my sister is trying to keep us apart. I don't even understand it."

"I hate her for that," Alex growled venomously.

"Don't get yourself riled up, sweetheart," Astra replied in a soothing tone. "She has to come around..."

"And why exactly do you believe that, sister?"

_Shit, _Alex cursed inside her head as Alura stepped out of the shadows. _She saw everything. _She held Astra to her protectively. "Don't even think about it."

"Think about what you're doing."

"I know exactly what I'm doing." Astra glared at her. "But it's nothing wrong."

"She has to be corrupting you. You wouldn't love her..."

"But I do." Astra's eyes flashed defiantly and she kissed Alex again to prove her point. "I am not under your rule anymore."

"Astra..."

"No."

"I'll go," Alex sighed. "And so will Alura. You can't be getting riled up right now."

Alura rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Alura, don't you think she needs peace? Especially after what Non did to her."

"This isn't over though."

"Don't care."

**In the morning...**

Kara flew out early to visit Lena again, so Alex assumed she could be alone with Astra. But the door was open and the light on.

_Alura._

She was about to turn and leave, but then she heard a raised voice and quietly peeked in through the door. By now, she'd learned to distinguish the twins and from their position, she could see that Alura was pinning her sister up against the wall, speaking to her. Astra looked tired and in pain and she was obviously pleading with Alura to release her. How had things gotten so bad that they had attacked each other?

"Alura, what is wrong with you?" She burst into the room in a rage. "Don't touch her!"

Alura turned around in surprise, releasing Astra and dropping her to the floor. "Alex... I never meant to... I was just trying to keep her from attacking me for what I wanted to say."

"Look at her now! You've hurt your own sister!" Alex dodged around her and knelt beside the fallen woman. "Astra!"

"Alex... I'm alright... it's okay..."

"Not when I'm close enough to destroying her myself." Alex glared daggers at Alura. "She doesn't deserve to have a sister like you."

"Alex, you can't keep me away from her," Alura warned.

"No, but I can tell you to go away!"

"Astra, no..."

"Go... away..." Her eyes closed.

With all her strength, Alex lifted Astra off the floor and brought her back over to the bed.

"Until she's better, you are not welcome in here again."

"She's my sister. I love her more than you ever could."

"If you really loved her, you wouldn't have _attacked _her! And you wouldn't be trying to keep us apart." Alex stared at her in disgust. "I honestly don't understand how she ever loved you."

She left Alura with a shocked look on her face as they walked out together. In the main control room, a stir was brewing, so they went to check that out first.

Nothing much there except for a soot-covered Supergirl... and Lena.

_Wait, what?_

"Kara, what happened to you?" Alex asked her, batting soot off of the alien's cape. "And Lena... I thought she was in the hospital."

"The hospital was bombed," Kara said through tears. "If I hadn't been there..."

_She would be dead._

"Take her to the room next to Astra's," Hank ordered. "We have a lot of space in there."

Alex followed Kara closely and once she was in the room, she then fled the DEO, walking to the edge of the city and just standing there. Waiting. She could feel a faint presence of others, but she wondered if it had been from people who had recently left the area.

And just as she expected, Non soon arrived.

She was ready.

"You hurt her!" she roared.

Non laughed. "I have not cared about hurting Astra since when I met Indigo."

"You broke into the DEO... you raped her!"

"I merely showed her what she betrayed and how powerful I am." He scanned Alex up and down. "And you're the human she's with? Not much to look at, in my opinion. Alura has the right idea keeping you two apart."

Balling up her fists and taking out her sword, Alex charged at him, but because of his protection that specially protected him from feeling the effects of Kryptonite (which is why he had that type of sword as a weapon now), her sword bounced off of him.

He cackled again, then paused for a moment and raised his head. "Someone else is here. Someone hidden. Two others." His hand moved and threw some kind of dust into the air, then he moved fast and slashed his sword forward into who had just materialized. Alura. And beside her, Kara. Alura took a sharp breath, stumbling back, but she was either stronger than Astra or more resistant to the effects of Kryptonite, because she seemed fine. No marks either.

"Bad sword, Non, against our protection," Kara snarled, ascending into the air. "And if you try to hurt any of us again... well, you won't, because you are dead."

As the two of them clashed in the air, Alex darted over to Alura and they got out of range of the fighting. "What the hell?"

"I don't go out fighting Non without protection anymore. Neither does Kara. Come on. Back to the DEO."

Alex wrenched her arm away from Alura as she grabbed it. "Not with you." She walked away from her, but Alura followed.

"Okay, I get you're still mad about Astra, but... you understand my decision, right?"

Alex turned on her. "What decision? Your sister isn't under your control. Astra and I are together and you cannot change that."

Alura stopped in front of Alex. "Stay away from my sister."

"No!" Alex tried to move around her, but Alura blocked her every time.

"Alex, just listen to me!"

"Get out of my way."

"Not until you listen."

"No, because I know what you're going to say. Out of the way!"

Alura reached for her shoulder, but Alex wasn't in the mood. She grabbed Alura's wrist and twisted it so that she could get a hold on her other arm, preventing her from getting away.

"Now listen, _Alura. _I don't care what else you do, but you will _not _get between me and Astra. I get that you want to protect her, but if you try to keep her away, she'll get more and more resentful against you."

Alura sighed. "Alex, don't do this."

"Do what? The way I see it, I should be telling you that."

She stormed away, pushing Alura to the side and starting back toward the DEO just as Non fled from Kara. "Once she is healthy enough to move well, she's coming back to my apartment. I know Kara will be living at the DEO for a while." She felt a bit guilty for trying to overpower Kara's mother, but she would not let anything keep her apart from Astra.

Alex held her word. Once Astra was well enough to move and stand, she insisted on bringing her back to the apartment, on the conditions that she give her medicine and check her condition every day. She was fine with that. She just wanted her away from Alura's rage for a while. Alex gave Astra a standard outfit she had brought in order to get her out of the jumpsuit, then brought her home.

"Thanks," Astra breathed gratefully as Alex set her on the couch. "Movie tonight? I want to act like life is normal for right now."

Alex grinned. "We're alone tonight; Kara's living at the DEO until Lena is better. We can do whatever we want, as well as getting you a blanket."

Astra nodded. "Movie then."

They settled in to watch an Alex's favorite movie called The Descent, but she forgot it was a bad horror movie for that night, meant to scare hard, and even though Astra had seen it before, it had been forever to her since then. At one point when someone was attacked in a more violent way than she had ever done, she screamed and threw herself toward Alex, shivering.

"Shh, it's okay, babe," Alex soothed, turning the volume down a little. "It's not going to hurt you. And you've seen this movie before."

"Not in a while!"

"Well, nothing will happen to you while I'm here." Alex hugged her as softly as she could, conscious of the still-healing wounds on Astra's body. "I won't let it. Not anymore."

"Really?" Astra blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Hey, I had to nearly strangle your sister to keep us from getting separated. Shouldn't that prove it?"

"Maybe... but what about this too?" Astra leaned up and kissed her fervidly, originally a bit uncertain about it, but more confident when Alex returned it. With kissing and with sex, Non had always been very rough with her, long before he'd snapped, turned on her, and raped her out of pure resentment. She never willingly did it with him, but he'd often threatened her and she had reluctantly given in. With Alex, it felt like a new world, a deep kiss, but not one that had been brought on to silence her, or to give only a means of keeping her down. Alex moved slightly lower and brushed her lips along Astra's collarbone. Astra lay her head back on a pillow, breathing lightly as Alex slowly removed the other woman's top. Since the horror movie was still playing, they switched it to a less scary movie before continuing.

"Your skin is so soft," Alex cooed as she traced one hand over Astra's chest. "So smooth..."

"I don't know how it's always stayed like that, but I'm glad you like it."

Astra inhaled a breath sharply as Alex teased her more and that's what she mostly remembered before Alex stripped her of the rest of her clothing and moved on to previously forbidden actions, despite knowing how angry Alura would likely be when she found out. Astra's thoughts soon became less and less coherent before she finally lost it all.

As she fell back onto the cushions, gasping for breath, Alex carefully set a blanket over her and kissed her again.

"You're exhausted, so I'm going to leave you here to sleep." She kissed her one last time. "I love you, Astra In-Ze."

"I love you too, Alex Danvers. And I..." Her last words before she fell asleep were little more than whispers. "I will never let you go."

**In the morning...**

"Astra, wake up."

She opened her eyes. "Alex...?"

"No."

"Wait, what?" Astra sat up quickly to see her sister standing in front of her. "Alura, you need to stop showing up everywhere I do!"

"Um... did you _sleep with her?"_

Astra's face turned red. "Alura..."

"You did, didn't you?"

"Maybe..."

"Astra..."

"I don't have to listen to this, you know."

Alura took a step back. "You and I need to talk. But get some clothes on first!"

"Fine." Astra moved to Alex's room to borrow some of her clothes, leaving a note for her to find when she woke up, then followed Alura out. The two of them headed outside National City, where it was quiet.

"I don't want to hear how you're mad at me," Astra snapped. "You've made it pretty clear you hate me being with Alex. You even attacked me over it!"

"Astra... I'm sorry."

"Oh, you're _sorry _now?"

"Listen to me. I just wanted to make sure you were making the right choices in case I... have to leave."

"What do you mean?"

Alura bit her lip. "Sister... I fear that I'm dying."

_"What?" _Astra turned on her. "How?"

"Around when Non attacked you... he attacked me too, actually injecting me with Kryptonite, a lot more than you had gotten in the DEO a long time ago. But something's gone wrong... it hasn't left me since."

"Why didn't you tell Hank?"

"He was already dealing with you and later Lena, so what does it matter?"

"Alura, you're my _sister. _We are going to tell him right now."

Astra felt like she had expected it when Non responded right away from the air. _Damn, he always knows where to find me._

"Going somewhere, my dear?"

"You gave up the right to call me that forever ago, so shut up, you bastard."

Non gave a mock gasp. "Language!"

"I said shut up!"

"Why?" Non grasped Astra by the waist and rose a few feet with her. She didn't hesitate to struggle, but his body protection made it impossible. In desperation, she sent all of her power against him, everything she had, which wasn't much, since previous injuries had drained her. Alura tried to do the same, but Non rose out of her reach, so she shouted up to him to stop. But then he froze. It only took a minute for them to realize the air was getting hotter by solar flare, that Non was using what would have been his weakness to solar heat the air around Astra, which would poison her if she absorbed too much.

Alura aimed her power at Non again, but it took a while before she could actually reach him and he released Astra. Solar flare power would hurt her too if she'd gotten too close, but it was now poisoning Astra.

Non looked at Alura and as Astra fell to the earth in front of her, he was tempted to shoot power at her, but he knew she was much stronger than her at the moment. Alura paid him mind no more as she helped her sister up, but Astra could barely stand, though she attempted to. The solar flare would have weakened them both, but even with Kryptonite inside her, Alura still had much more protection. Astra has also been weakened enough already, with most of her power drained so that she'd been able to bleed and feel pain like a normal human.

No matter what had been and was happening to herself, Alura felt even more guilty than before. If Astra died now, she didn't want the last words passed between them to be part of a fight over Alex. For once... maybe the rules could be bent. After all, they weren't on Krypton anymore. Alura vowed that she would bring Astra to the DEO and get them both extracted of the solar flare poison and the Kryptonite. Then she'd try to make things better with Alex, which would be the toughest part of all, as Alex practically hated her at the moment.

But then both of them heard a rumble.

And the ground exploded beneath them.


	3. Chapter 3- Strong

The ground had exploded.

Alura couldn't see her sister anymore through smoke, but it seemed neither of them had gotten caught in the original blast. That was clearly not all, however. Both of them had fallen, but Alura had used what flight power she could muster up in the situation to hover before she could hit the ground.

_Non's final trap._

She called Astra's name, fearing the worst had happened, then realized it had. Astra was powerless, physically weak, and unable to fly, which could only mean...

"ASTRA!" she yelled again. The smoke was clearing and panicked thoughts were racing through Alura's mind as she waited for it to fade.

_She could be dead already and we have no one else here... not even Alex knows where we are..._

"Astra..."

The smoke disappeared and Alura dashed down through the void. With a hole in the ground that large, it had been a huge explosion. Alura landed on the ground at last and started to walk, squinting through the darkness and eventually almost tripping over her sister's body.

_Astra!_

They had no source of light, so with all the strength she had, Alura flew her out of the hole and lay her on the ground well away from the crater.

_Oh Rao... why would he have done this to her?_

She had to have hit her head on something hard because Astra's dark hair was drenched with blood, which didn't seem to have come from anywhere else on her body. Alura winced at the sight... she had never seen her sister weakened enough to bleed. Even when she had before, her injuries had been covered up, but now they weren't. She was barely even breathing.

Alura combed her hands through Astra's hair until she found the wound in her head. Astra moaned in pain as she touched it gently, letting her know that she wasn't entirely unconscious yet.

_And she can still feel pain. I can't believe... she's been reduced to this._

For once, Alura felt sympathy for Alex, who was probably still sleeping at the moment, being completely unaware that Astra was possibly dying next to her sister. Then she remembered. _I have to get us back to the DEO so we both aren't killed out here. But it's so far and I can't carry her as well as myself when I'm as weak as I am... I need to get Kara or J'onn._

Casting a mournful look at her sister, she took to the air, speeding off toward the DEO. Both of them needed help and after weeks of none of it, Alura was finally feeling the pain of the Kryptonite inside her, enhanced because of the blast. She didn't like the thought of getting it extracted, but she needed it. First, though, Astra needed her.

She was running before she even hit the ground and because the door wasn't open, she started pounding on it. It would do no good to laser-eye it, the door was impenetrable.

It opened, revealing the hall, and she darted through it, into the main control room, where Hank greeted her.

"Hello, Alura. Why are you here in such a rush?"

She slowly lifted her hands, revealing the blood on them. "We were attacked... by Non..."

"Well, let us help you. Come, we can start by bandaging those hands, although I don't know how much he weakened you to bleed."

"I do need help, but..." Alura shuddered. "This isn't my blood... it's Astra's... she's bleeding... and got hit by a solar flare specifically designed to damage her..."

"Where is she? You shouldn't have left her!"

"I can't even touch her without causing her pain... and I can't carry her when I'm weak enough myself. I could hardly get her out of the crater."

"What do you mean?"

"Liquid Kryptonite... inside me... Non attacked me with it... around the time he first attacked Astra..."

"All right, you're staying here. Go find Kara." Hank transformed into his original form as J'onn. "I'll go fetch your sister."

"No! I need to show you where she is. And I'm not staying when she's in danger."

J'onn sighed. "Weren't you two just fighting about her being with Agent Danvers?"

"That is irrelevant right now! You cannot keep me back." Alura hovered a few feet in the air to prove her point.

"Fine, fine, but don't die on the way."

"I won't."

Alura flew ahead of J'onn as they headed out, leading him to where she remembered she'd come from. J'onn saw the huge hole in the ground first and he grunted. "How did Non manage to plant that while fighting you at the same time?"

"Could have been a surface blast or an underground one put there beforehand. But who cares right now?"

Taking a sharp breath and telling herself not to panic anymore, Alura touched down next to Astra, lifting her chin to indicate to J'onn where she was. J'onn came to rest beside them.

"Did she land on something?"

"I don't know, but I couldn't see to find out. I had to bring her back up here."

J'onn dropped to one knee beside Astra and ran one hand over her before he slid both arms under her body and secured her against him. Alura attempted not to think about how lifeless her sister seemed; closed eyes, pale skin so close to the color of the streak in her hair, blood coating her shoulders... it made her afraid, knowing that if she lost enough power herself, she would be vulnerable to the same.

"Call Alex when we get in please," Alura told him as they soon landed again to wait at the entrance to the DEO. The door opened and they stepped in.

"You have Kara do that. She hasn't left Lena's side in forever."

"How is Lena, by the way?"

"Better and she can move, but she's not well enough to come out of bed."

J'onn transformed back into Hank and carried Astra away. With a look of determination, she walked away to where Lena's room was, expecting by Hank's words to find Kara there. Yes, there she was, plain as day, speaking with Lena, who was awake and sitting up.

"Hey, Kara."

Both of them looked up. Lena looked a bit confused as she murmured to Kara, "Mother or aunt?"

"Mother. My aunt has a white streak in her hair. And she's at Alex's anyway."

Alura shook her head. "You need to go get Alex."

"Can't you?"

"I..." She quickly explained the condition she was in. "J'onn wouldn't let me anyway."

"But can't Astra get her?"

"Astra..." Alura shut her eyes for a moment. "I can't let her die..."

"Mom, what happened?"

"Non... he attacked again... hit her with a solar flare..."

"How bad?"

"Worse, because the ground blew up underneath us and she can't fly at the moment. She's powerless and lost a lot of blood."

"Oh no..." Kara looked scared. "Why do you need Alex though? Weren't you and Astra fighting about her?"

"I... just think Alex deserves to know what happened."

"Fine, I'll get her." Kara turned to Lena. "Will you be all right here?"

Lena rolled her eyes and smiled weakly. "Of course."

Kara left and Alura returned to Hank to be put into her own room. She requested one by herself so she wouldn't be put through humiliation in front of anyone. The scientists strapped her into a bed and attached a special tube to her arm that would extract the Kryptonite from her system over many days.

Out of all of them, it was obviously Kara who was scared the most. While she flew to the apartment, where Alex was just waking up, she was nervous to tell her. And she had a good reason too. As soon as Kara revealed to her what had happened to Astra, Alex broke down, sobbing and muttering to herself that she shouldn't have let her go out and that Alura was going to pay for what she did. But obviously, Kara could hear her.

"Hey, it was not my mother's fault," she hissed to her. "She couldn't have known Non was going to be there. And she could die too, so go a little easy on her."

"Bring me back to her. _Now." _

"I'll bring you to the DEO, but I really don't think you should be going to see her now. According to my mom, she lost a lot of blood."

"Take. Me. Back."

"Okay, alright!" Taking a few deep breaths, she led Alex down to the street, then wrapped her arms around her waist and shot into the air. Alex didn't make a sound until they reached the main room of the DEO, where she stopped Hank when he came around. "Where is Astra?"

"Recovering. Her wound from the explosion was stitched up, but she lost too much blood and the solar energy her body absorbed from Non is poisoning her. Agent Danvers... she might not make it."

"Let me see her!" Alex growled.

"She is in too critical of a condition right now..."

"Let me see her. Right now!" She glared threateningly at him. "I don't care about anything else right now and I will literally rip you apart if you don't show me."

Hank raised an eyebrow. "Alex, don't be making empty threats."

"Then do as I say!" He could see that she was only going to get more enraged if he said no again, so he reluctantly led her through the halls, stopping at one particular room, then turning back to the way they had come. Alex took that as her cue, opening the door of the room.

Clean. Sterile. Two things she hadn't seen for a while in the DEO.

And Astra, who she wished wasn't bedridden like she was. Alex uncertainly stepped over to her. When she ran fingers through her hair, she could see the carefully done stitches on the side of her head.

But she looked to be in so much pain that it couldn't be understood at all. Astra was awake and had something in her arm that looked like an IV, likely trying to hold the poisonous radiation in her system at bay.

"Astra?"

She slowly turned her head toward her and despite her agony, a smile lit up her face. "Alex!"

Alex gently hugged her as she sat up, noticing with dread that each breath she took was labored, forced. She moved one hand up to the middle of her chest to monitor her breathing while they embraced. Yes, there was a machine doing the same, but she'd want to be the first to know if her love's sweet heart stopped beating.

"I'm so sorry," Astra whispered. "I shouldn't have gone out with Alura."

"It's no one's fault but Non's. Neither you nor Alura could have known he'd be out there though."

"Don't you always see how he shows up though? He could be tracking me..."

"I doubt it." Alex relocated her hand to go higher and she caressed Astra's pale face as softly as she could. Tears streamed from her eyes as she laid her head on Alex's chest.

"Alex... this hurts..."

"Shh... it'll be alright."

Alex folded her into the warmth of her body, kissing her head, but being cautious to stay clear of the wound. Astra still had the scent of blood on her, but it had been layered over with something that smelled like the ocean, salty but sweet. Her lips traveled down to Astra's, engulfing her with a strong sense of protection as they met, and Astra felt her pain melt away like snow.

But as soon as the kiss ended, she felt it return. Alex looked sadly at her. It hurt her heart so much to see Astra like this. Bruised. Pale.

Broken.

For a moment, they only gazed at each other, millions of emotions flowing through their eyes. Astra didn't want to admit it, but everything was crushing her. Non's ruthless attempts to kill her, her fight with Alura, the possible deaths of both her and her sister. It hurt her to know about it all.

Grasping Astra's hand, Alex let her eyes rove over the alien, observing every changed detail of her. The veins that stood out against her pale skin, the frailty of her body that she thought could never be achieved, the shivers that racked her every time Alex touched a scar. After a moment, she began to realize her shivers were continuing even when she wasn't touching her at all.

"Are you okay?"

All of a sudden, Astra threw her head back and let out a bone-chilling scream, as if she was being stabbed by Kryptonite weapons on every inch of her. Alex gasped in horror as she drew back, but darted forward again to catch her as she fell back, holding her in a certain way so that she wouldn't thrash around. Her face drained of all color as she stared at the heart machine, simultaneously feeling its rhythm against her hand as she replaced it on Astra's chest, the beats noticeably slowing under her touch. Astra made no other sound, but the way she was suffering made her have to try hard not to.

"What's going on?" Someone stepped into the room and Alex whipped her head around. Kara.

"She needs help!" Alex shouted just as alarms began to blare around her. "I think she... she's dying!"

"Aunt Astra!" Kara was at her side in less than a second. "Astra, can you hear me?"

A slight nod answered back before Astra's movements started to fade and she convulsed, struggling to gulp in air.

"HELP!" Kara wailed at the top of her lungs.

Doctors eventually poured into the room and Alex narrowed her eyes when she soon felt Hank grab her arms.

"Come on, Danvers."

"No!" Alex fought against him, but he was stronger than her and wrenched her away from Astra. "Please! Let me stay with her!"

"In her condition right now? Not happening." Hank pulled her out of the room crying, begging him to let her go back to her.

"No... ASTRA!"

**At night...**

Alex lay in bed, trembling. She was alone in her apartment.

Alone. Like Astra was.

She'd been forbidden to stay at the DEO for that night on account of the fact that she might try to find her beloved in the middle of the night.

But she couldn't stop thinking about one thing. What if Astra died? She would be entirely alone. No neice, no sister, no Alex. Imagining that made her bury her face in her pillow to stifle all cries that would leave her.

"Oh, Astra," she exclaimed into the darkness. "I wish you could be here with me, just so I could hold you and kiss you and know you're alive."

"You really do feel that way about her?"

"Gah!" Alex screeched, recoiling and accidentally banging her head on the headboard of her bed. "What the hell?"

"Hey, it's just me. It's Kara."

"Kara?" Alex felt the warm hands of her adopted sister on her bare shoulders as she climbed into bed with her.

"Thought you needed some company and comfort after what happened today."

"Well, I have a bad-ass rep I've destroyed too, but that's putting it lightly, sis. Right now..." She swallowed. "I'm just laying here, trying to seem like I'm with her. You know what I mean?"

"Alex, I know you want to be with her, but Hank sent you back under good reason. She needs to heal and she can't when you're on her like you were."

"Didn't you do the same with Lena?"

"No. I just never left her. You and Astra were doing everything you could to touch each other without hurting her."

"Whatever." Alex rolled over to face Kara. "How weird do you think this is?"

"Huh?"

"Astra and I. Alura has good reason to keep us apart, but I would have thought you'd do the same."

"Why? She loves you and you love her. That's all that matters."

"But she's your _aunt, _Kara. If you and I were actually related, that'd be incest."

"But we aren't. And I'm dating someone too, don't forget."

"Yeah, but you're not related to her."

"Whatever. My point is though, there were laws on Krypton that explained you couldn't be with a person of the same sex unless it was approved by the Council. However, we aren't on Krypton anymore, so there's nothing to say you two can't be together or that Lena and I can't."

"I hope so." Alex sniffed as she pressed her body against Kara's. "Thanks, Kara."

"Hey, what are sisters for?"

"Not related by blood!" Alex laughed.

"Yeah, because if we were..."

"Oh god, please don't."

"Alex..."

"What? Can we go to bed now?"

"Yeah. Love you."

"Night, Kara. Love you too."


	4. Chapter 4- Gone

Alura was terrified when she heard her sister's scream. She wanted to run to help, but almost any movement during the Kryptonite extraction caused her great pain if she was off it for even a few seconds.

_It's nothing compared to Astra's._

She was even more terrified when she heard Alex's cries and her desperate tries to get back to Astra. It had to be bad if they wouldn't even let Alex near. Eventually, she heard Kara go out too.

And in the middle of the night, when, through super hearing, she heard Astra's agonized gasps as she continued fighting for her life, she couldn't take it anymore. Her regret for all she'd done to her back on Krypton and here on Earth was boiling into a dangerous mix of rage and fear. She ripped the extraction tube from her arm and moved so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. It only hurt a little right then, but Alura knew too long without it would kill her. If she hadn't gotten to the DEO when she had before, it would have killed her in a few hours right then.

As soon as she pushed herself off, she felt her legs weaken and she struggled to stand, driven by her determination to see her before she possibly died. After taking a few steps, the pain blossomed inside her, hurriedly taking over her body like a parasite. Alura shook her head, trying to disconnect her senses from it while also urging herself forward to the door. She almost wrenched the door handle off, taking care not to let the door itself slam against the wall when she opened it. One loud sound and she'd be discovered in a minute.

Using her super hearing again, though it strained her a bit since some rooms had sound-blocking tech, she made her way down the hall, careful not to be spotted. Even at night, some agents were still up and working. Fortunately, they were very focused on their work, so none of them gave her so much as a glance. At last, she arrived at the room where she could hear the sounds she listened for the loudest. Gritting her teeth as the pain inside her increased, Alura yanked open the door and slipped inside quickly, closing it behind her. Darkness greeted her, pierced only by the dim light of the monitors. She used that light to find her way over and though it was faint, she could still make out the half-unconscious form of Astra In-Ze beneath it. She was still gasping, but awake, unaware of her sister's presence.

"Sister..." Alura passed a hand over her chest. "I'm so sorry..." She was shaking as she grasped her hand with the same one. "I shouldn't have brought you out this morning."

_Even though you didn't know Non would be there._

_Non. _Alura narrowed her eyes as she thought his name. _You will pay for this with everything. You went too far when you raped her and you're going too far now. You've crossed a line and I will not allow Astra to suffer anymore._

"Astra..."

Astra's dull eyes flicked toward her, although due to the oxygen mask that had been recently placed on her face, she could not speak. But her expression told a thousand words.

"I promise you, Non will not hurt you anymore," Alura sighed. "We will find him and take him down."

She had been trained to interpret the general facial expressions from others and the one on Astra asked, _How?_

"I don't know. I promise you, though, we will do it." Alura knelt beside Astra's bed, their hands still intertwined with each other. She didn't need to talk. She just needed to be there.

Alura ran her other hand that wasn't occupied through her sister's hair, feeling her tense up when she tentatively touched her head injury before moving away.

Deep breaths.

She studied the heart monitor carefully, scrutinizing all its detail. Her eyes settled on the steady line on the screen, constantly flowing to make small and large waves that marked Astra's heartbeats. They were still there and as long as she was around, Alura never wanted the beeping to stop. When she felt Astra move, she moved with her. For a moment, she remembered being back on Krypton, Astra almost in this very position, before she and Non had married. Her world suddenly dropped away...

_Alura __was standing on the surface of Krypton, next to Zor-El, watching in dismay as a huge battalion of invaders tried to fight their way through the ranks of Krypton's military. Her husband and her were merely for backup at the time if needed. She feared for them; their opponents had weapons of poisonous solar energy and Kryptonite, making a dangerous combination, but the military fought back hard with their own strikes. Her eyes settled upon one particular person, surrounded by a few attackers, defending and battling how she'd been trained. _

_Her sister, General Astra._

_Astra was quickly subduing her foes, but all of a sudden, someone leaped forward out of the fight toward her- a general himself by the looks of him- brandishing a dangerous, solar-charged Kryptonite saber. At the last second, she turned to see, but wasn't fast enough to stop him as he slashed the weapon deep through her chest and stomach, setting her suit on fire. She screamed as she collapsed and the other general laughed mercilessly, dragging her out of the fight and beating out the flames only after a few minutes, when her skin had torn horribly from burns and blood was seeping from where she'd been injured, mixed with traces of green from the Kryptonite._

_Someone had drawn blood from her for the first time. And it looked bad._

_Roaring with anger, Alura launched herself toward the battlefield at the general, spearing him to the ground. Kryptonians only killed when they needed to, but right there, she was overcome with rage, knowing that the ones invading fought to kill. She grabbed the sword from his hand, which was no longer flaming, and held it to his neck._

_"You will die an honorable death, one given on the field of battle and quick mercy," she snarled. "You showed no mercy to my sister, however, so know that it is only by my moral that you will receive this."_

_Her arm moved on its own and the sword tore through his throat, killing him instantly. _

_Avoiding the eyes of soldiers who had been on their way to aid her in the fight, Alura made her way over to Astra, bowing her head sadly as she reached her body._

_"Oh, Astra... Rao, why have you been so cruel?"_

_But then Astra coughed a few times, rolling over onto her back, and Alura's head shot up._

_"Sister... you're alive!" Alura knelt beside her. "We need to get you to the medics."_

_She opened her mouth to speak, but only a rasping whisper of "I'm sorry" came from her before she fell unconscious. Operating instinctively, Alura lifted Astra into her arms, dashing off toward the medical wards._

**_I have to keep her alive, _**_she thought. _**_I__ can't let her die.'_**

_However, she'd only just gotten there and handed Astra to the medics when she felt the tears in her eyes. She gulped. **I'll come visit her later tonight.**_

_And she did. At dark night, she walked into Astra's room, saw her laying in the bed with the machines and monitors keeping her heartbeat from dying. Alura knelt next to her and kissed her sister's head. _

**_Astra... I will never put you in this much danger again._**

Alura barely noticed she had tears in her eyes again when she broke out of the memory, but she didn't care.

Then, quickly, she felt her chest burst open. Well, it didn't really, but when the pain from the Kryptonite increased a thousandfold inside her, she released Astra's hand and dropped to the floor, crawling swiftly across the floor.

_I'm too late... I'm not going to make it._

She managed to get outside the room... then blacked out entirely.

**In the morning...**

Alex awoke, got dressed, and ate breakfast, then headed to the DEO immediately with Kara. Hank had messaged Kara that her mother had attempted to get to Astra in the middle of the night, but due to the Kryptonite not being extracted at the time, she had nearly died from it. Alex and Kara went separate ways, Kara to Alura and Alex to Astra. Alura had gotten a lot better once she'd gotten back in bed, thankfully.

However, Alex seemed afraid when a few doctors came in for examinations on Astra. She stepped back a bit, but didn't take her eyes off of her.

To start with, they removed her oxygen mask and checked her breathing. Upon deciding she didn't need it any longer unless necessary, since her breathing had improved much overnight, they put it away from her and finished the rest of the examination quickly. As soon as they left, Alex walked over to her, smiling shyly.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Still like I was thrown through the sun, but a little better than I was before."

"Astra... what happened to your sister?"

"She came in to see me... and I couldn't warn her not to. The Kryptonite weakened her..."

"But she's okay now?"

"Still better off than me."

"How long before you can come back with me again?"

"I don't know, but I don't think anytime soon."

She was right. It was nearly a month before she could get out of bed and a couple more weeks before Alura could. What was strange is that no one even saw a sign of Non during those times. And when Alex finally confronted Alura and Astra about it, both were somewhat convinced he was conjuring up something terrible.

"He broke in once, so why hasn't he done it again?" Astra pointed out.

"I just hope so much that he's given up going after you," Alex replied.

"If I know Non, he will _never _give up."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"Astra, it's not fine."

"I'll always be fine with you here to help me."

It was a week longer before Alura and Astra were both free to leave. Astra was still stumbling a bit, but Alura and Alex held her up as they left the DEO.

"Am I correct that Astra is still powerless?"

"She is, but you're not. With Astra... I don't know when her powers will come back. Hopefully soon."

Astra clenched her fists together. "I need to face him."

"Absolutely not," Alex retorted. "You can't even fly and you are not fighting when you don't have powers."

"I don't care."

"You should care."

"Not now I don't." Astra turned away from them and started to run the long way toward the city. Even without special abilities, she was naturally fast and Alex was always meters behind. After a few minutes, Alura took to the air and managed to catch up to her sister, flying level with her.

"Astra, don't!"

She only stopped when she was close to the city and Alura landed beside her.

"Astra, we need to be somewhere covered. You're walking bait for Non right now."

Astra didn't move, not until, at the most sudden moment, a ball of fire came rocketing out of the sky, falling onto Alura. She extinguished the flames with freeze-breath, just as a few more came with it, all heading for Astra and Alura. Alura managed to hold the ones aimed at her back with that same power, but Astra was frozen.

Alex wasn't. On complete intuition, she rushed forward as fast as she could, pumping her arms hard. Muttering one quiet prayer, she threw herself over Astra.

"Alex, NO!"

Astra's hand had almost reached hers just as the fireballs hit, slamming into Alex's back. They struck Astra too, but because Alex was on top of her, she was more protected. Alex screamed at the top of her lungs as she rolled onto the ground, attempting to stamp out the flames. Alura saw Astra first and extinguished her fire, but when she got to Alex, the wounds underneath her looked devestating.

"ALEX!" Kara touched down beside her adopted sister quickly. Her skin had been blistered heavily and blood reached all edges of her. She wanted to heal her as best she could, but with fire... that wouldn't help.

Then Non arrived down with them, standing over Astra's injured body. Alura shot laser-eyes at him, but he somehow caught the beams in one hand and they dissipated.

He reached out to Astra and yanked her off the ground by the throat, leaving her thrashing in his grip.

"Let her go!" Alura roared. "I will not let her be taken from me again!"

"And you have no choice in the matter." In the blink of an eye, he dropped Astra, still keeping her under his foot, and headed to Alura. His hands moved hurriedly, and almost snapped her neck, leaving her paralyzed on the earth as he choked Astra in his clutch again. Kara gulped as she watched, but with Alex's life in danger, she couldn't leave her. It hurt her heart to see them like they were and called Hank to help her mother.

_Aunt Astra... I'm so sorry._

Astra coughed a few more times and went entirely silent and Kara looked on with a pleading look.

_Rao... please keep her safe._

J'onn tore through the sky toward them, but he wasn't fast enough to get to them before Non shot into the sky, disappearing with Astra.

"Get my mother!" Kara screeched. "We need to get back to the DEO; they're both dying and Astra's been captured!" She rose into the air, Alex's burned and broken body unconscious in her arms. J'onn collected Alura, who was dangerously close to breaking her neck if she made any sudden moves.

"J'onn..." she moaned. "We need... to save... Astra..."

"Not you. You're about to kill yourself, so lie still. Agent Danvers will not be part of this rescue either."

"Is she okay?"

"We won't know until we get back."

_Cooped up in the DEO again. I need to get back to Argo City eventually. But my sister needs me. Knowing Non, he wants to torture her before he kills her. If he'd wanted her dead instantly, he would have weakened her and slit her throat already._

_Or he could just put her in agony for life if we can't find her._

She'd heard stories in other cities on Earth of people like her sister getting kidnapped, then tortured and sodomized for life. _I can't let her end up like that._

Her mind blanked out until at last they returned.

Kara was nearly hyperventilating. "Someone... please... help." Alex lay nearly lifeless in her arms, the burns on her so intense that they'd penetrated her skin deep. J'onn handed Alura back to the care of the medics so they could heal her fast, then came to examine Alex himself.

"We better get her under anesthesia before she comes to and feels everything."

"Wait, why didn't you do it with Aunt Astra?"

"She refused it to stay awake in case her sister or Alex came to visit her. Plus, one of the only anesthesias we can use on her she hates anyway."

"Well, do it now!"

It was too late. Just as the medics entered and Hank fetched the anesthesia, Alex awoke, feeling the full potency of her burns and sobbing as the pain hit her all at once.

"Astra!" she wailed. "Astra!"

Kara and Hank glanced at each other uncertainly.

"Hey, I'm here for you," Kara murmured. "We're going to help you, I promise."

"Kara, where is Astra?!"

Kara shook her head. "Not now." She stepped back as the medics took her. Alex cast a horrified look back at Kara and she read the expression with ease.

_Is she dead?_

Slowly, silently, Kara mouthed, _I don't know._

She took a few breaths to steady herself before the full reality of everything hit her.

Her mother was injured, although she was the least concern compared to the others.

Alex was literally about to burn to death.

And Astra was gone.

Kara held her face in her hands as she pressed her back to the wall. _Who knows if we're going to see her again? And Alex... how's she going to react to this?_

It wasn't well, especially since it was s few days before she woke up.

When she finally woke up, still under the anesthesia she'd been put under, Kara was at her side, asking if she felt okay.

"Kara, I don't care if I'm okay right now. Where is Astra?"

"Alex, you can't be getting yourself worked up right now. You're hurt and you need to calm down."

"I don't need to do shit until you answer my question!"

"Alex... Astra's gone."

"You mean... she's _dead?"_

"No, but Non... he took her..."

"Okay, that might be worse!" Alex's eyes were wild as she tried to sit up. "I need to help her!"

"Not in your condition right now."

Alex glared at her. "Shouldn't you care for her? She's your family! Your blood!"

"I do and I will be doing everything in my power to get her back and so will my mom."

"Wait, she's going? Wasn't she hurt too?"

"She just needs some surgery while she's weakened and she'll be good as new."

"So I can't go?"

"You really think you'll be out in enough time?"

"It could be forever until I see Astra again!"

"Oh, you just want to see her?" Kara almost flew through the ceiling when she and Alex heard Non's voice echoing through the room and the computer sitting on the table near Alex's bed flickered on. "Here you are then. For the viewing pleasure of you both."

The screen blurred to static for a moment, then stopped to reveal an image that seemed to come from a surveillance camera. It was of Astra, chained to a hard wall in a slightly lit room, taking deep breaths as she attempted to break free. As they watched in disbelief, Non came into the picture.

"She is so weak I can do to her what I could to a normal human," he exclaimed. "So I will."

He held up a gun in one hand and fired, the bullet slamming into Astra's shoulder. She groaned in pain, but her voice already seemed torn out.

And then Alex completely lost her mind.


	5. -Chapter 5- Danger

"Alex, you need to calm down!" Kara insisted as she wrapped her arms around her. "We will find her, I promise!"

"I can't calm down!" Alex howled. She was in a rage, tears streaming down her face, drawing the attention of the medics, Hank, and some other agents. The video of Astra and Non had not disappeared from the computer, but the image of seeing Astra with a bullet in her shoulder was too painful for either of them to bear. "Astra, we will get you out of there!" She desperately tried to struggle away from Kara.

"Don't come here!" Astra wailed from the screen. "He'll trap you!"

Non struck her hard in the head and she winced.

"Let her go!" Alex roared.

"You won't be able to find her. She's mine now."

"No!" Astra shook her head. "If I belong to anyone, it's Alex." She received another hit and her head snapped back, blood dripping from her nose as well as her shoulder.

"Listen, I'll save you! I swear to that!"

"Good luck!" Non cackled. The screen went dark and Alex unleashed a swarm of curses.

"Give me something special," she growled. "I need to heal quickly so I can go find her."

"Knowing him, he's going to be mobile. He could move her anywhere right after we find her."

"If he just did that trick with the screen... he's taunting us with her! Get me out of here!"

"Hey, it's only been a few days since you got brought in here. Rest and we will find her."

**A few hours later...**

Kara felt her heart pounding in her chest as she surveyed the city once more. No sign of Astra. But soon, she did see Non.

"NON!" she shouted. He looked up at her and smiled. "WHERE IS SHE?"

She touched down beside him.

"You want to see her? Fine then." Non raised his hand and a bright white light appeared above him, glowing brighter and brighter, and when it finally faded away, Astra was there in front of him, laying in a mess of blood.

"Aunt Astra!" Kara stared to move forward.

"Little One... don't!"

She took a few more steps and a sound like a scream pierced the air, only it was about at the sonic level. Kara recoiled as she covered her ears as much as she could and Astra was crying out as she did the same, blood easily seeping through her fingers.

_And she still has that bullet in her shoulder..._

Fighting through the sound, Kara threw herself down beside Astra and covered her ears, drawing back a tiny bit when she felt the blood.

Then she felt her harshly ripped away and Kara's eyes widened as she saw her disappear again.

"All you're going to see of her again is in a state like that," Non stated. "Do you really want to do that until you eventually see her dead?"

Kara's eyes glowed red.

"And I wouldn't laser-eye me if you even want to see her again." He left so fast that she almost ended up lasering the building behind him.

Then she saw he'd left something behind. It looked a little like a mini-computer on a watch and when she slowly picked it up, Non's face flickered onto the screen.

"If you want to keep seeing your precious aunt again, then keep in touch with this. Give it to Alex."

"And what if I refuse to?"

"Well, she'll die anyway, so if you want to know how she's doing at times, take it to her. It'll be only her shown on here and you two can speak to her, but I will not let her go."

**Back at the DEO...**

"I will not let her slip from me again!" Alex snapped, grabbing the watch from Kara and putting it on her wrist. The computer was closed at the moment and she left it that way. "I'm keeping this so I can check up on her."

"Okay, but lay down, Alex. I can tell you're in pain."

"I'm in agony right now, but it'll mean nothing if we don't find Astra and destroy Non!"

"Calm down. You really need to."

Alex's shouts died down, then she started whimpering. "Kara... it hurts knowing she's in danger like that."

"I know how you feel," Kara murmured back. Cat had recovered, but almost died.

"No, you don't! Lena wasn't captured by her ex-husband and used to lure in anyone!"

"Alex... I know how much you love her. And believe me when I say _we_ _will get her back."_

"How do you believe that? She could be dead before we find out where Non's keeping her."

"You have another thing to deal with right now," Kara said as she glanced at her phone. "Your mom's on her way."

"Oh my god... _you told her?!"_

"I had to, Alex. You're injured and you're her daughter."

"But when she finds out I'm with Astra, she's going to kill me herself!"

"Hey, she's not that way. She'll listen to you."

"How do you know?"

"Because we will tell her how you got those injuries exactly. You got those trying to protect Astra."

"It didn't work anyway. She's still gone!"

"But she's not dead yet, so we still have a chance to get her back."

"I don't know..." Alex opened the computer-watch and was not at all surprised to see Astra with a fresh scratch on her face.

"Baby, don't worry, I will get you out of there," she whispered to her. Astra's expression was pleading as she looked at her.

"I hope so. I can't tell you the location... Non will kill me if I divulge even a little bit." She sighed. "Please... get me away from this pain..."

"I will... I promise... I'll do everything I can."

"Which will be to rest right now," Kara added. "Aunt Astra, she was badly injured the day you were captured and needs to rest on her own."

"I can't rest when she's in danger!" Alex retorted.

"And you don't be able to help her if you're not at top strength! You know how dangerous Non is."

"You think I give a fuck?"

"Whoa, calm down or I'll take the watch back."

"No..." Alex let out a heavy sob, her body shaking. "I can't let her die. I love her too much to let her go."

**With Astra...**

The large screen had gone black. Kara had gone.

"Please..." Astra begged as Non walked back into the room where she was held, wearing a sneer on his face. "Let me out of here... I'll stop fighting you, I promise..."

"Why?" Non stepped over to her and ran one rough hand over her naked, injured form. She flinched. He had an artificial light that gave her only enough strength to stay awake, but every time one wound closed up, he opened another. And when he didn't have any weapons... he made his mark on her. He undid her chains and she slid to the floor onto her stomach, exhausted. He sat down next to her and pulled her into his lap.

"Why do you fight me so, Astra?" he crooned.

"Because you... have tried... to kill me... so much..,"

"I mean in our more intimate moments."

Astra glared at him. "You mean when you _rape _me?"

"Baby, you know you want it." Astra felt thoroughly disgusted by that remark.

"I'm not your 'baby' anymore. You gave up the right to call me that long ago."

"And who else calls you that? No one loves you as much as I did."

"Alex does. There's no one I love more besides my family."

"She doesn't deserve you."

"Well, you don't deserve _anyone."_

That did it. In a flash, Non flipped Astra over and smashed her onto her back. She gasped as his clothes teleported to the other side of the room and he was left as bare as she.

"I'll teach you more respect than that." He pressed her into the tough floor and Astra screamed as he slammed into her, lashing out with both arms, although less with the one weakened by the bullet wound. She felt both humiliated and betrayed by the violation, an intrusion on her body's physical healing and on her mental state.

"ALEX!" she cried. "KARA! ALURA!"

"You must know they can't hear you," Non exclaimed as he pressed down even more, crushing Astra beneath him. The terror on her face would be horrifying to anyone else but him. He was breaking her, both literally and figuratively.

_Alura... I'm sorry I fought with you. If I die here, tell Alex I will never stop loving her, even in death._

All the fight had gone out of her and the only sounds that came from her were low moans of pain. The agony from her lower regions was spreading throughout her body and Astra felt the slightly familiar burn of blood between her legs.

She wished she were still back on Krypton or safe with Alex. If Alura saw any of this, she'd never let her out again. But Astra didn't want to be held back from the world, unable to do anything but survive it and bear its agony. And she was more than grateful when he stopped at last, leaving her bleeding out onto the ground.

_Oh Rao..._

The screen soon turned on again, showing Alex and Alura in beds right next to each other. Alura gasped in sheer horror as she saw her sister, who attempted to get to her feet.

"Astra... he did it again..."

She shot her a pleading look. "Don't. Don't do it." Her body was shaking, leaving her unable to back up her words, and she groaned as she fell back again. "I can't... I can't hold on..." Astra's eyes closed and Alex started shouting at her.

"Baby, don't you dare close those eyes! Don't you dare die on me! I will not allow you to leave us!"

With her last burst of strength, Astra roared, "I don't want you to see me like this!" Finally, she fell unconscious.

**DEO...**

Alex clenched her hands into fists.

"Calm down," Alura told her instantly. "Don't even think about it."

"Says the woman who just saw her sister bleeding to death."

"She is _not _dying! We will find her."

"Do you recognize that room she's in? It looks like the medic room she was previously held in before Non broke in to rape her, but dark and with no equipment."

"Does that give us any clue of where she may be?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"In the DEO."

"Say what?"

"Think about it. We're in the cave base right now, but in the city base, there's so many forbidden rooms where no one is allowed to go. They're soundproof, so no one would hear her or Non, and only J'onn has the key."

"Can Kara go over there?"

"With J'onn, yes. I have the earpiece in still; I can get her."

With Alura's help, Alex managed to send Kara flying that way. But on the way, they halted.

"He's here, turning his back on us," Kara growled. "Non, get out of our way!"

"Why?" He turned in the air, giving both of the aliens a view of the still body in his arms, in worse condition than even Alex and Astra combined, it seemed, more blood on her than she even thought possible. It was only her faint breathing that said she wasn't dead.

And Kara could hardly breathe herself at the sight of her girlfriend in the arms of her enemy.

"Give Lena to me," she snarled in a low voice. It was dangerous, usually showing that a fight was about to come up. "Let her go!"

Non shrugged. "If that's what you desire."

She knew he was going to drop her and as soon as he did, she raced down to catch her, enfolding Lena in her arms just as she was about to hit the ground. Kara carefully lay her there, right as she opened her eyes slightly. "Kara..."

"Lena, how did he get to you?"

"He just attacked me in the street... I fought..." She struggled to continue through raspy breaths. "I tried to get away..."

"Shh... I just wanted to know the first thing. But I know you wouldn't go down without a fight."

"Kara... Kara, I can't hold on..."

"You will!" Kara glanced up at J'onn. "We're heading to the DEO base right now and we can put you in the medical rooms while we do what we need to do there."

Lena moaned as pain shot through her from Kara lifting her back into the air. She flew slow, slow enough so that Alex noticed.

"Kara, why did you stop? You went offline for a moment."

"I had to... he had Lena... she's bleeding... it's really bad... she might not make it... I'll drop her off at the base."

"Worse or better than Astra?"

"Definitely worse."

"Then do that. I don't want her to die either. I may not entirely approve of her, but you love her more than most things."

Kara nodded and took off toward the base.

_Just hold on, Lena... please hold on..._

When she got through the window, she was surprised to see her cousin standing in the main control room. But she didn't let that deter her.

"Someone help!" she yelled. "Lena's injured!"

The whole room turned to stare at her and it was Clark who called for backup and then rushed over to her. "Kara, what happened?"

"I don't have much time to explain. Non caught Lena in the street... but I know where Astra is. She's here."

No sooner had she said that before Non burst in through the window and snatched Lena from Kara's arms, dipping low as he flew in and disappeared down the hall.

"LENA!" Kara shrieked. She set off in that direction instantly, ignoring Clark's protests to wait for him. As she moved on further, she could hear Lena call for her before she got pulled into one of the rooms and shot into it soon after the door closed.

The first person she saw was Astra, limply hanging from the wall by metal chains. Her focus trained right on her and she immediately burned away the chains with laser eyes. Astra fell to the floor, her eyes widening as she spotted her niece.

"Kara, you can't be here... he has Lena with him... she might be dead..."

Kara narrowed her eyes. "He has my _girlfriend. _I will not allow her to be taken from me. Not so close to when it was going to happen..."

"When what was going to happen?"

"Never mind right now." Kara peered into the darkness of the room. "Is there a light in here?"

"Yes. Right on the wall..."

She flipped it on... just as the room shook from Non smashing Lena into the wall.

"NO!" Kara soared toward him and grabbed the bloodied form from him before she could fall again. She laid Lena next to Astra, her gaze trained on Non.

"Get out before I have them stab you with Silver Kryptonite," she snarled at him before readjusting her attention.

Both Lena and Astra were hurt, but Astra wasn't covered in as much blood. They were still conscious, but suddenly, Lena broke into a fit of hacking coughs, lasting for almost a minute before she dropped back, her eyes closing.

"Lena?" With a terrible feeling, Kara touched her chest. Nothing. She wasn't breathing any longer. "Lena!"

Agent Vasquez has followed her and let out a startled sound as she came in beside her.

"Get the medics!" Kara growled. "Lena's not breathing!"

Vasquez tore down the hall again and returned with them. Kara motioned them toward Lena and they moved with astonishing speed as they raced to hook her to a machine that would help her. A few came back for Astra to bring her support as well.

Kara got up slowly, looking around for Non, but he had disappeared. If he could get in once already, he could get in again.

But, again, why would he rape and torture Astra when she was once his wife?

He'd nearly destroyed her and when Kara had wanted to stop him, he'd thrown Lena's broken body at her just to show what he could do to the ones she loved. Wait... that could be who he was after now.

As she exited the room, a faint shriek echoed through the air and she stiffened.

_Alex!_

Her instincts set her to autopilot and she flew down the hall toward Alex's room. Then she remembered something else.

_My mother is in there too..._

And when she burst in there, she saw her, laying on the ground on top of her mother, her burns once more blistering and opening.

_She'd been protecting her..._

Non was gone once more. Kara raced over to Alex, whose breathing was so irregular that she was surprised her mother hadn't noticed.

Wait. Alura was unconscious. That explained it.

Once Alex had been moved again as well and Alura transferred to a separate area, Kara sank to her knees, sobbing.

_Mom... Astra... Alex... Lena... please don't let any of them die._

The four living people she loved most... all injured, from Alura, recovering from surgery, to Lena, who had been the unwilling victim of a near-murder.

_She might not even make it..._

Kara took a shaking breath.

_Rao... they didn't deserve any of this... please keep them alive..._


End file.
